Can accumulator and divider

ABSTRACT

A combined accumulator or storage unit for cans and a divider for dispensing the cans therefrom through one or more flow lines and at different rates of discharge. The accumulator or storage unit is capable of being adjusted by a simple manual operation for accommodating cans or similar receptacles or tubes of various lengths, and which can be quickly and accurately accomplished to minimize the downtime that would otherwise occur. Specially constructed swivelly mounted threaded sleeves insure accurate movement of one wall of the accumulator relative to the other in accomplishing the manual adjustment.

Umted States Patent 1 [111 3,773,216

Cockerhill Nov. 20, 1973 CAN ACCUMULATOR AND DIVIDER Primary Examiner- Robert B. Reeves [76] Inventor: Robert E. Cockerhill, 320s Haddon Rd Louisville Ky 40222 Attorney-John N. Randolph [22] Filed: Aug. 10, 1972 [57] ABSTRACT [211 App]' 279325 A combined accumulator or stroage unit for cans and a divider for dispensing the cans therefrom through {52] US. Cl. ..221/242 One r m re fl lines n at ifferen r es of dis- [51] int. Cl B65h l/l4 charge. The accumulator or storage unit is capable of [58] Field of Search 221/68, 180, 241, ing j e by a simple manual operation for c- 221/242; 178/30, 31; 206/62 R; 220/8 commodating cans or similar receptacles or tubes of various lengths, and which can be quickly and accu- [56] References Cited rately accomplished to minimize the downtime that UNITED STATES PATENTS would otherwise occur. Specially constructed swivelly mounted threaded sleeves insure acurate movement of one wall of the accumulator relative to the other in accomplishing the manual adjustment.

10 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED NOV 20 I975 SHEET 16? 2 FIG. 2

PATENTEU "UV 2 0 I973 SHEET 2 BF 2 FIGS FIG. 3

FIG. 4

SUMMARY A primary object of the present invention is to provide an accumulator to insure an uninterrupted and controlled flow of materials and components in a continuous production line operation, to thereby compensate for and level peaks and valleys of the flow of production.

Another object of the invention is to provide a unit constituting an in-process storage area for materials to be supplied to machines and personnel on production line operations, such as flangers, seamers, packers, cappers, etc., to thus provide a backlog supply of materials to compensate for momentary line downtime resulting from brief interruptions in the supply source or other causes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a unit having a divided output for supplying more than one secondary processing line, and wherein the rate of discharge to such processing lines may be varieddepending upon the capacity thereof.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a unit capable of being used by manufacturers, processers, and end users of cans and tubes in the handling and processing necessary to pack their finished product for marketing.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawings, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the can accumulator and divider, looking toward the front side thereof; FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the bottom central portion thereof;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary substantially horizontal sectional view, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 4--4 of FIG. 2, and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring more specifially to the drawings, the can accumulator and divider in its entirety is designated generally 7 and includes two corresponding walls 8 and 9, each comprising a frame 10, preferably formed of rigid metal tubing, and a panel 11, preferably formed of a transparent material, such as Plexiglas. As seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the panels 11 are disposed between the frames 10. Each wall 8 and 9 is provided with two upper guide rails 12 which are inclined downwardly and outwardly from one another and which substantially meet at their adjacent upper ends, as seen in FIG. 1, and two lower guide rails 13 which are inclined downwardly and inwardly of one another and which terminate at their adjacent ends in spaced apart relation to one another. The remote ends of the bottom rails 13 extend outwardly to beyond the remote ends of the top rails 12. The rails 12 and 13 are secured to the inner adjacent sides of the two panels 11, so as to be disposed between the walls 8 and 9, as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4. Each wall 8 and 9 is provided with upright end flanges 14, preferably of approximately the same width as the rails 12 and 13, which are likewise secured to the inner faces of the panels 11.

A pair of parallel beams 15 are supported from above, each by a pair of hanger rods 16. A pair of aligned pillow blocks 17 is supported by and beneath each beam 15. A shaft 18 extends qthrough each pair of pillow blocks 17. Each shaft is rotatably and nonslidably supported in the pair of pillow blocks and includes a threaded portion 19 disposed therebetween.

A pair of conventional pillow blocks 20 is secured to and disposed above the frame 10 of the wall 8 in alignment with the pillow blocks 17 for receiving the shafts 18 for suspending the front wall 8 therefrom. The shafts 18 fit rotatably but non-slidably in the pillow blocks 20. A pair of pillow blocks 21 is secured to and disposed above the top of the frame 10 of the wall 9 in alignment with the pillow blocks 20. Each pillow block 21 contains a threaded sleeve or nut 22 which is swivelly supported therein on vertically aligned trunnions 23, as seen in FIG. 5, and the threaded shaft portions 19 extend through and threadedly engage in the sleeves 22 for suspending the wall 9 from the shafts 18.

The bottom portion of the frame 10 of the wall 8 has pillow blocks 24 secured to and disposed therebeneath in vertical alignment with the pillow blocks 20 to rotatably and non-slidably receive a second pair of shafts 25 having threaded portions 19'. The bottom portion of the frame 10 of the rear wall 9 has pillow blocks 26 secured thereto and which align with the pillow blocks 24. The pillow blocks 26 correspond with the pillow blocks 21 to threadedly receive the threaded portions 19 of the shafts 25.

Corresponding sprocket wheels 27 are secured to the shafts 18 and 25, adjacent their forward ends, as seen in FIG. 1, and an endless chain 28 is trained around the sprocket wheels 27 and over a chain tensioning sprocket wheel 29 which is adjustably mounted, as seen at 30, in a conventional manner, for movement toward or away from one vertical reach of the chain 28 to effect tensioning of said chain. A crank 31 is detachably and non-rotatably connected to the forward end of one of the lower shafts 25 for turning said shaft and its sprocket wheel 27, for simultaneously turning the other shaft 25 and the shafts 18 in the same direction and at the same speed through the sprocket wheel and chain drive 27,28, for causing the shaft portions 19 and 19 to be threaded in one or the other direction through the sleeves 22 of the pillow blocks 21 and 26, for moving the wall 9 toward or away from the wall 8, for varying the spacing between the panels 11 for accommodating the accumulator to cans of different lengths. The swivel mounting of the sleeves 22 maintains alignment of the shafts 18 and 25 to prevent binding ofthe shafts in their journals, so that the four shafts may be readily turned simultaneously in either direction at uniform speeds to maintain the wall panels 11 in precise parallel vertical planes at all times, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4.

Three longitudinally spaced pillow blocks 32 are secured to and disposed beneath the bottom central portion of the frame 10 of wall 8, and three pillow blocks 33 are secured to and disposed beneath the bottom central portion of the frame 10 of the wall 9, in alignment with the pillow blocks 32, to receive-three shafts 34. Each shaft 34 is journaled non-slidably in a pillow block 32 and is slidably and rotatably mounted in a pillow block 33. A set of two discs 35 is mounted on and secured eccentrically to each shaft 34 in spaced apart relation to one another, as seen in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. A setscrew 36 threadedly engages the hub of each disc 35 for securing the disc to its shaft 34 and in different adjusted initial positions. The disc 35 are disposed between and spaced from the walls 8 and 9 and are also disposed between the adjacent ends of the lower rails 13.

A conventional gear motor is secured to the underside of the frame 10 of wall 8, beyond one of the end shafts 34 and has an output shaft 38 to which a disc 39 is secured. The disc 39 has openings 40 spaced different distances from the axis of the shaft 38 to receive a crank pin 41 on which one end of a lever arm 42 is pivotally mounted. The other end of the lever arm 42 is pivotally connected by a pin 44 to one end of a pitrnans rod 45. Each shaft 34 has a lever arm 46 fixed to its forward end. The lever arms 46 are shown extending upwardly from the shafts 34 and are pivotally connected at their upper ends by pins 47 to the pitmans rod 45. A discharge bonnet 48 is shown in broken lines in FIG. 1 disposed above the accumulator-divider unit 7 to discharge between the walls 8 and 9 thereof. Articles 49 to be utilized in a production line, such as cans or tubes, to be divided and/or stored are supplied to the accumulator-divider through its open top from the bonnet 48 with the axes of the articles 49 disposed crosswise of the walls 8 and 9. The walls 8 and 9 are positioned spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the length of the articles 49 by the means 27,28,31, heretofore described, so that said articles will fall upon the top rails 12 of both walls and will roll down said top rails and off of the remote ends thereof. The articles 49 will be guided by the flanges 14 into engagement with the bottom rails 31 of both walls to accumulate on and between said bottom rails. The articles 49 disposed be tween the bottom rails are supported by the discs 35, as seen in FIG. 1. Thus, the articles 49 may be accumulated or stored between the walls 8 and 9, nearly up to the level of the lower ends of the upper rails 12. Various conventional means other than the bonnet 48 may be utilized for supplying the articles 49 to the unit 7. The upper inlet ends of two discharge chutes or conveyors are shown in broken lines in FIG. 1 at 50 and 51, with the inlets thereof terminating beneath and between the end sets of discs 35 and the intermediate set. Said chutes 50 and 51 may be suitably attached to the frames 10 by connecting means, not shown, or otherwise supported, and may extend from beneath the unit 7 in various directions lengthwise or crosswise of the unit 7 and of one another. Assuming that the motor 37 is operating for rotating the disc 39 to effect reciprocation of the pitrnans rod 45, the resulting oscillation of the lever arms 46 and shafts 34 will effect oscillation of the discs 35 causing the sets of discs 35 to swing toward 7 and away from one another for varying the spacing between the intermediate and end sets of discs 35, so that the articles 49 will be dispensed between the end sets and intermediate set of discs, as the spacing between said discs increases, and the flow retarded and thereafter shut-off as said sets of discs swing toward one another. Oscillation of the discs 35 also agitate the articles 49 to provide a uniform flow from the unit 7.

The minimum and maximum spacing between the discs of the difi'erent sets can be varied by varying the positions of rotation of the discs when secured to the shafts 34. Also, the throw of the crank pin 41 can be varied by locating said pin in different ones of the openings 40, for varying the stroke of the rod 45 and the extent that the shafts 34 are oscillated in each direction, for varying the rate of feed of the articles from the unit 7 into the chutes 50 and 51.

Thus, the unit 7 can be utilized for supplying stations of a production line where the rate at which the articles 49 can be handled or processed is substantially less than the rate at which the articles are supplied to said unit, so that while articles are being supplied to different stations from the unit 7, additional articles 49 can be accumulated in the unit 7 to be supplied to the aforementioned stations without interruption due to any momentary downtime which may occur affecting the supply, due to any cause.

Due to the various adjustments of the discs 35, as heretofore described, unit 7 is capable of handling containers of various diameters including non-circular containers. By manipulation of the hand crank 31 the spacing between the wall panels 11 can be quickly and accurately adjusted to accommodate articles 49 of different lengths, enabling the unit 7 to handle cans of substantially any size. It will also be apparent that one of the sets of discs 35 and its associated shaft 34 could be removed when the articles 49 are to be supplied to a single discharge point or station. The unit 7 is adapted to handle fiber as well as metal cans.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may be resorted to, without departing from the function or scope of the invention.

1 claim:

1. A can accumulator and divider comprising a pair of walls disposed in spaced apart substantially parallel vertical planes, upper rails disposed on inner adjacent sides of said walls and inclined downwardly and outwardly towards the ends of the walls and onto which an ticles to be stored and divided are discharged downwardly into the accumulator and divider, lower guide rails secured to adjacent inner sides of lower portions of said walls for receiving the articles discharged from the lower ends of the upper rails, said lower rails being inclined downwardly and inwardly toward one another and terminating in spaced apart relationship to one another at their adjacent ends, and means supported by and disposed beneath said walls for supporting the articles disposed between said adjacent ends of the lower rails and for selectively discharging said articles, whereby the articles may be stored between said walls and discharged both continuously and intermittently at rates difierent from the rate at which the articles were supplied to the upper rails, said accumulator and divider having an open top, open bottom and open ends, defined by the upper edges, bottom edges and ends, respectively of the walls.

2. A can accumulator and divider as in claim 1, and means connecting the walls and for displacing said walls toward and away from one another for varying the spacing between the walls and the rails carried thereby for accommodating articles of different lengths.

3. A can accumulator and divider as in claim 1, and means suspending the walls from above and constituting the sole support of the accumulator and divider.

4. A can accumulator and divider as in claim 1, bearing means fixed to and extending upwardly from each wall adjacent each end thereof, shafts extending through and turnably mounted in aligned bearing means of the two walls, hanger means supporting and joumaling said shafts for suspending said walls from above, each shaft having a threaded portion, and bearing means of a first one of said walls being threadedly engaged by said threaded portions, and means for tuming said shafts simultaneously in either direction for moving said first wall toward or away from the other wall.

5. A can accumulator and divider as in claim 4, said bearing means of said first one of the walls being swivelly mounted.

6. A can accumulator and divider as in claim 4, bearing means depending from bottom portions of both ends of the walls, shafts engaging tumably in the last mentioned aligned bearing means of the two walls and theadedly engaging the bearing means of said first wall, and said means connecting the first mentioned shafts being connected to the last mentioned shafts for tuming the four shafts in unison.

7. A can accumulator and divider as in claim 6, said means for turning the shafts in unison comprising sprocket wheels secured to the shafts, an endless chain trained over said sprocket wheels, and a crank connected to one of the shafts.

8. A can accumulator and divider as in claim 1, said means disposed between adjacent ends of the bottom rails and beneath said walls comprising sets of eccentrically mounted discs disposed in planes parallel to the planes of said walls with the discs of each set spaced from the discs of the other set in a direction longitudinally of the walls, and means for oscillating the discs for varying the spacing between the discs of the two sets to permit an intermittent discharge of the articles stored between the walls.

9. A can accumulator and divider as in claim 8, and means for varying the minimum and maximum spacing between the discs of the different sets for accommodating the discharge of articles of different diameters and for varying the rate of discharge of such articles.

10. A can accumulator and divider as in claim 8, and a third set of eccentrically mounted discs for providing a divided discharge of the articles stored between said walls to enable the discharged articles to be conveyed to different destinations. 

1. A can accumulator and divider comprising a pair of walls disposed in spaced apart substantially parallel vertical planes, upper rails disposed on inner adjacent sides of said walls and inclined downwardly and outwardly towards the ends of the walls and onto which articles to be stored and divided are discharged downwardly into the accumulator and divider, lower guide rails secured to adjacent inner sides of lower portions of said walls for receiving the articles discharged from the lower ends of the upper rails, said lower rails being inclined downwardly and inwardly toward one another and terminating in spaced apart relationship to one another at their adjacent ends, and means supported by and disposed beneath said walls for supporting the articles disposed between said adjacent ends of the lower rails and for selectively discharging said articles, whereby the articles may be stored between said walls and discharged both continuously and intermittently at rates different from the rate at which the articles were supplied to the upper rails, said accumulator and divider having an open top, open bottom and open ends, defined by the upper edges, bottom edges and ends, respectively of the walls.
 2. A can accumulator and divider as in claim 1, and means connecting the walls and for displacing said walls toward and away from one another for varying the spacing between the walls and the rails carried thereby for accommodating articles of different lengths.
 3. A can accumulator and divider as in claim 1, and means suspending the walls from above and constituting the sole support of the accumulator and divider.
 4. A can accumulator and divider as in claim 1, bearing means fixed to and extending upwardly from each wall adjacent each end thereof, shafts extending through and turnably mounted in aligned bearing means of the two walls, hanger means supporting and journaling said shafts for suspending said walls from above, each shaft having a threaded portion, and bearing means of a first one of said walls being threadedly engaged by said threaded portions, and means for turning said shafts simultaneously in either direction for moving said first wall toward or away from the other wall.
 5. A can accumulator and divider as in claim 4, said bearing means of said first one of the walls being swivelly mounted.
 6. A can accumulator and divider as in claim 4, bearing means depending from bottom portions of both ends of the walls, shafts engaging turnably in the last mentioned aligned bearing means of the two walls and theadedly engaging the bearing means of said first wall, and said means connecting the first mentioned shafts being connected to the last mentioned shafts for turning the four shafts in unison.
 7. A can accumulator and divider as in claim 6, said means for turning the shafts in unison comprising sprocket wheels secured to the shafts, an endless chain trained over said sprocket wheels, and a crank connected to one of the shafts.
 8. A can accumUlator and divider as in claim 1, said means disposed between adjacent ends of the bottom rails and beneath said walls comprising sets of eccentrically mounted discs disposed in planes parallel to the planes of said walls with the discs of each set spaced from the discs of the other set in a direction longitudinally of the walls, and means for oscillating the discs for varying the spacing between the discs of the two sets to permit an intermittent discharge of the articles stored between the walls.
 9. A can accumulator and divider as in claim 8, and means for varying the minimum and maximum spacing between the discs of the different sets for accommodating the discharge of articles of different diameters and for varying the rate of discharge of such articles.
 10. A can accumulator and divider as in claim 8, and a third set of eccentrically mounted discs for providing a divided discharge of the articles stored between said walls to enable the discharged articles to be conveyed to different destinations. 